On This Day: February 10

On This Day February 10

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1883 – Actor Lon Chaney, Jr., who portrayed the legendary monsters of film, including the Mummy, Wolf Man, Frankenstein and Dracula (d. 1930)

1893 – Singer-comedian-actor Jimmy Durante (d. 1980)

1930 – Actor Robert Wagner (“It Takes a Thief,” “Hart to Hart,” “Austin Powers”) 

1937 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Roberta Flack (“The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” “Killing Me Softly With His Song,” “Feel Like Makin’ Love,” “Where is the Love”) 

1950 – American Olympic gold medal swimmer Mark Spitz

1961 – ABC News’ “Good Morning America” co-host and former Clinton administration advisor George Stephanopoulos 

1964 – Conservative talk show host Glenn Beck 

1967 – Actress Laura Dern (“Mask,” “Blue Velvet,” “Wild at Heart,” “Jurassic Park,” “Rambling Rose,” “Enlightened,” “The Founder”) 

1974 – Actress Elizabeth Banks (“Catch Me if You Can,” “Seabiscuit,” “The 40-Year-Old Virgin,” “The Hunger Games” movie series, “Pitch Perfect”)

History Highlights
History Highlights

1933 – The Postal Telegraph Company, based in New York City, introduces the first singing telegram.

1962 – American spy pilot Francis Gary Powers is released by the Soviets in exchange for Soviet Colonel Rudolf Abel, a senior KGB spy who was caught in the United States five years earlier.

1967 – The 25th Amendment to the Constitution is ratified. It clarifies procedures for presidential succession along with provisions for the continuity of power in the event of a disability or illness of the president. 

1981 – A fire at the Las Vegas Hilton hotel-casino kills eight people and injures nearly 200 others. Investigators determine that the blaze was set by 23-year-old hotel employee Phillip Cline. He is convicted of eight counts of murder and sentenced to eight consecutive life terms without parole for the deaths, plus 15 years for first-degree arson.

1989 – Ron Brown is elected chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), becoming the first African American to lead a major American political party. 

1996 – World chess champion Garry Kasparov loses the first game of a six-game match against Deep Blue, an IBM computer capable of evaluating 200 million moves per second. Man was ultimately victorious over machine, however, as Kasparov bested Deep Blue in the match with three wins and two ties and took home the $400,000 prize.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1958 – “Don’t,” by Elvis Presley & The Jordanaires, tops the singles chart and stays there for five weeks. The ballad, written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller — the duo behind “Hound Dog” and “Jailhouse Rock” — becomes Elvis’ eleventh No. 1 single. 

1968 – The instrumental “Love Is Blue,” by one-hit wonder Paul Mauriat begins a five-week reign over the Billboard Hot 100.

1972 – A little-known rock musician named David Bowie appears at the Tolworth Toby Jug, a London pub, and assumes the persona of the now-legendary Ziggy Stardust before some 60 guests.

1979 – Rod Stewart has the hottest single in the U.S. with “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?” The song holds the No. 1 spot for four weeks.

1990 – “Opposites Attract,” by Paula Abdul with The Wild Pair, starts a three-week run as the No. 1 single.

1993 – On a special edition of the Oprah Winfrey show, Michael Jackson gives the first television interview in 14 years, live from his Neverland Ranch. Taking place before allegations about sexual abuse surfaced, the MJ interview draws a worldwide audience of 90 million people.

2001 – “It Wasn’t Me,” by Shaggy, begins its second and final week on top of the Billboard Hot 100. 

2004 – Def Jam Recordings and Roc-A-Fella Records release “The College Dropout,” Kanye West’s debut album. 

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On this Day: July 28

On this Day July 28

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1866 – Children’s author-illustrator Beatrix Potter (“The Tale of Peter Rabbit”) (d. 1943)

1901 – Singer-actor-bandleader Rudy Vallée (d. 1986)

1929 – Former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (d. 1994)

1943 – Former New Jersey Senator and Basketball Hall of Famer Bill Bradley 

1945 – Cartoonist Jim Davis, creator of “Garfield” 

1948 – Actress Sally Struthers, best remembered as Gloria in the 70s sitcom “All in the Family”

1964 – Actress Lori Loughlin, who played Rebecca in ABC’s “Full House” 

1993 – Pop singer-songwriter Cher Lloyd (“I Wish” and “Sirens”)

History Highlights
History Highlights

1868 – Following its ratification by the necessary three-quarters of U.S. states, the 14th Amendment is officially adopted into the U.S. Constitution. It grants citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States, including formerly enslaved people.

1933 – The first singing telegram is sent to singer Rudy Vallée on his 32nd birthday. 

1945 – The pilot of a U.S. Army B-25 bomber gets lost in thick fog above New York City and crashes into the 79th floor of the Empire State Building, killing 14 people. Because it was a Saturday morning, there were fewer people inside the skyscraper than would have been there on a weekday.

1965 – President Lyndon Johnson orders an increase in the number of American troops in South Vietnam from 75,000 to 125,000.  

1978 – “National Lampoon’s Animal House,” a movie spoof about 1960s college fraternities starring John Belushi and directed by John Landis, opens in U.S. theaters.

2016 – Former Secretary of State, Senator and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton accepts the Democratic nomination for president, becoming the first woman to lead a major U.S. political party.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1956 – Elvis Presley scores his second No. 1 hit with “I Want You, I Need You, I Love You.” The song tops Billboard’s Best Sellers in Stores chart (predecessor of the Hot 100, which is introduced in 1958). 

1962 – “Roses Are Red (My Love),” by Bobby Vinton, is in the middle of four weeks as a Billboard chart-topper.

1973 – In what is considered the largest rock concert to date, more than 600,000 people attend the Watkins Glen Summer Jam in upstate New York to catch performances by the Allman Brothers, the Band and the Grateful Dead.

1984 – Prince is in the middle of a five-week run on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “When Doves Cry,” from his “Purple Rain” soundtrack. The song is his first No. 1.

1990 – “She Ain’t Worth It,” by Glenn Medeiros featuring Bobby Brown, is in its second week as a No. 1 single.

1998 – Brandy & Monica are in the midst of 13 weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “The Boy is Mine.”

2001 – Usher begins his fourth and final week at No. 1 on the pop chart with “U Remind Me.”

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